Ben and Rey
by sakshi.chopra
Summary: Ben attends Luke's academy for Force sensitive children. Rey is an orphan who helps around the Temple and whose power is hidden from all save one. Ben and Rey, when they were younger, less complicated and more honest with themselves and each other. Slow burn Reylo because they are my darlings and I want to put effort into this.[Ben Solo/Rey]
1. Chapter 1

Because I needed something happy and wholesome in my life...Because I was cheated of a happy ending some poor souls deserved...Because I may not own Star Wars but I can certainly write fan fiction :) Thank the Maker for that :)

Thoughts, constructive criticism, suggestions, rants, all welcome :)

Ben Solo stalked up the hill, a light spray of cool rain making his feet slip repeatedly on the oft taken mud path. His beige robes were being splattered with more mud than he could possibly wash off and his boots were already irredeemable. His eyes were wet too, though he would die before admitting it was not the rain making them so.

Ben Solo didn't cry. Ben Solo didn't walk off in a huff to a secret spot high on the treacherous mountains to lick his wounds and brood. And like those uncouth louts in his class so tastelessly jeered, Ben Solo certainly wasn't in love with Rey, five years younger little Rey, orphan Rey who helped clean their school, the little Rey of sunshine who always smiled at him, smuggled snacks for him, listened to his rants and sometimes just sat in silence with him. How could he not smile back at her? How could he be not kind to her? This morning, he got her books to study. How did that signify some tawdry love affair?

Of course he had to beat up those little shits.

Ben reached his spot, a little clearing shielded on two sides by the mountain and one other by lush trees. The fourth side was a sheer drop hundreds of feet deep. Between the edge and the rock wall there was space for around ten of Ben's steps when he felt like pacing.

He didn't feel like pacing today. He sat down and took a breath before closing his eyes. Ben tried to quiet his chaotic thoughts and find a spot of peace to center himself. His efforts proved elusive as his seventeen year old flighty teenage brain conjured images of his earlier fight again. He had fought with four other boys, his tormentors, and had a number of cuts and bruises to show for it. The others looked worse, was what he smugly told himself before trying to corral his runaway thoughts again. He needed to calm down before showing his face to Master Luke. If his meditation Force cured some of the more superficial bruises on his face, then all the better.

After a while of trying, Ben finally emptied his mind of all conscious thought and found his trance. The feel of rain became a caress. The scent of water, of the mountain, of the flowers and trees, perfume to his senses. The sounds of water hitting dirt, rock and tree, of little birds singing for their mates, of insects trying to rescue their subterranean abodes, of the wind, of the sea in a distance all came into sharp focus. Life flowed through him and around him. A sun was coming up, warming his chilled skin, soothing his hurt and filling empty spaces around him.

Eyes still closed, Ben smiled, content for the first time in the blasted day.

"You should have gone to the medic before running off." complained a small voice from behind him, "I had to carry the supplies all the way, up the mountain, in the rain, with my small arms!"

Using a little of his power, Ben lifted her basket from her arms and hovered it in front of her face. She pushed it aside to look at him and he pushed the basket in front of her eyes again.

"What are you doing? I want to look how much damage your latest hissy fit caused us."

_Caused us_, she said!

She was ridiculous.

"No, _you_ are ridiculous, picking stupid fights with four big guys over empty talk. Now let me see." Rey answered, catching the words he hadn't even said aloud. Not to mention, the little busybody had found him again when he was trying to hide so hard. The universe only knew how. All he knew was that there was something inside her that let her know where he was and what he was thinking. But whenever he talked to his teachers to get her tested and trained in the ways of the Force, that little seed of special inside her completely disappeared. It came out only in front of him, only when they were alone. It was extremely frustrating.

Rey extended the stick of her umbrella and thrust it in the damp grass beside him, offering them both protection from the rain. She snatched the basket still hovering around her head and rolled off the tarp covering. It contained a few bottles, clean cotton bandages and a small wrapped parcel tucked in a corner.

"Ah thanks! I'm starving." Ben pulled the wrapped sandwich to his open hand and tore off the leafy wrapping from around his berry jelly sandwich.

"Of course you are." She mumbled distractedly while dabbing a cut on his eyebrow with a folded piece of gauze dripping with an antiseptic suspension. It hurt but Ben didn't whine. He did have a sandwich to eat and concentrate on.

Rey methodically cleaned and spread ointment on all the cuts and bruises she could see, grumbling about stupid boys and their stupid antics. The stupid boy in question stuffed his face with the snack she'd brought him and thought how lucky he was to have Rey, his only true friend in a crowd of people who were either dazzled by his bloodline, afraid of his immense power or disgusted with his ancestry. They looked at him too closely, analyzed every move too critically and were quick to pass judgment. As if they were waiting for him to go dark like his grandfather. Or shine bright like his uncle, the hero of the galaxy.

It got hard to breath under the scrutiny sometimes. Lately, Ben had been feeling too close to the edge. He was quick to anger and snappy. His earlier fight was going to generate him a lot of grief.

But for now, Rey was fussing over his bruises while they sat under her umbrella high up the mountain. It was quiet and peaceful. His mind was calm.

"You are my only friend here" He whispered, solemn and serious.

"I know" she shrugged and went back to bandaging a cut on his arm.


	2. Chapter 2

Ben Solo was practicing forms on a staff a little distance apart from the rest of the students practicing their forms when Master Luke approached.

"Ben, come with me please."

Ben discreetly rolled his eyes before putting his practice wooden staff aside and falling in step with his Uncle Luke. He wondered what this was about. He'd completed the due detention, punishment and extra chores awarded to him over his display of _petty violence_ already. That was days ago. Luke hadn't reached out to him since.

He was silent for the four minutes it took to reach Luke's hut.

"Master Luke" He bowed formally, wishing the other man would get on with it already.

"Your mother contacted me. She wants you to visit with her for a few days." Luke said, smiling slightly.

"Did she say what this was about?"

Luke shook his head, "That's between you and your mother. You best prepare. She is sending a ship. It should be here sometime within the hour."

"And you're telling me now? This is not about the, uhh, my violence from a few days back is it? Some kind of punishment visit or…"

"No. I didn't tattle about you beating up a bunch of kids." Luke smirked and this time Ben didn't suppress his eye roll.

"Of course, master. I did not mean to pry."

"Ofcourse you didn't." Luke smiled solicitously, "Convey my regards to Leia and Han."

"Han?" Ben asked with some alarm, "Is Han there with mother?"

"I believe _your father_ is expected to be there as well."

The teenager wilted a little, before straightening up, the chip on his shoulder making a clear appearance for Luke to see.

"I shall make preparation for my departure then."

Ben bowed and left. He planned to walk to the kitchens to pick up something to eat and then to his quarters to pack a bag.

As soon as he entered the kitchen hut, he saw a package of food already waiting on a little stool by the door. Despite the prospect of suddenly being pushed to meet his parents, his eyes softened at the large package. He knew it was for him and who prepared it just in time for Ben to find it.

_Rey…the omniscient not-jedi…_

He took the food to his small hut and stuffed it in his bag, along with a change of clothes. On second thoughts, he removed the simple set of robes from the bag and dumped them on his bed. It felt like they better remain there. Where Ben was going, plain beige robes wouldn't be needed, nor encouraged. He would be expected to dress like a prince, talk like a politician and act all innocent and humble, just like his mother taught him.

Thinking about it made Ben want to go back to bed and not wake up for a couple of days.

He didn't find Rey before he left. She must've been with the caretakers at the stream, washing clothes, the little busybody. Ben wanted to wait for her to come back, but the ship's crew had a strict timetable and instructions to not linger. He almost used the force to make them do his bidding, but decided it was too risky to misuse the force so near to Luke. In the end, he had to obediently settle into a seat and be content with sending death glares at whoever tried talking to him.

The trip to Hosnian Prime was uneventful. Leia wasn't at the docking station, which was nothing new. Some looser from her staff came up to him with a holo of his name, complete with the princely titles spelt wrong. Things just went downhill from there.

Rey sat under a tree, holding two broken pieces of her comb. She'd glued the pieces together with sticky sap from the wild trees she loved and had been waiting for the last fifteen minutes for the sap to work its magic. When it looked like it would hold together, she rubbed off the stray solidifying drops of gunk from the wooden comb and wiped the whole of it with the corner of her loose linen shirt.

Ben would have told her to throw it away and gotten her a new one at his next market visit. But Rey had trouble throwing things. The more they were broken, the more she wanted to fix and keep them safe. Her trunk in the corner of the kitchen hut was full of knick-knacks she'd rescued all over the temple. Things no one wanted or appreciated anymore. Things people threw away without second thought. Ben laughed at her hoarding habits. In response, Rey always told him that things were never really broken, only given up on. Ben would laugh some more at her seriousness and pull her hair in affection.

Ben always had affection to spare for her.

Ben Solo. Her hero…

He'd been gone two days and already Rey felt unsteady. He hadn't had time to come tell her goodbye. In the middle of washing a bedsheet, when her heart told her to run, she'd run as fast as she could from the washing stream, climbed up the hill she was being pulled to, and watched the ship that carried him take off from afar. She followed the silver vessel for as long as her eyes could see, and then minutes afterwards when she couldn't see it anymore.

Ben went away sometimes, stayed with his parents for a few days before coming back angrier than he'd been before the trip. The anger took longer and longer to dissipate with each visit. The past couple of months, Rey had noticed that the dark shadow of his potent anger never really left Ben. Despite her efforts at cheering him up, the shadow always followed him around. Rey saw it and no one else did. It made her worry for her only friend in the world. She wanted to hide Ben in her cape and shoo away the shadow to some galaxy far away.

Rey's stomach grumbled. She held the mended comb gently with both hands and started towards the kitchens. Just as she caught sight of the temple buildings, a student stepped into her path. Rey sidestepped and he matched her movement to block her path again.

Rey stared at the boy standing in the way.

"What do you want Corbin?"

"I just wanted to check on you Sunshine. Ben has been gone two days. Are you alright?" He eyed her mended comb. "Do you need something?"

As always, Corbin's words were always kind and mindful. No one could say the boy didn't mean well. But something about him set Rey's teeth on edge. Ben was the only one who agreed with Rey's assessment. Rey tried to keep her distance from Corbin, but sometimes, like this evening, he cornered her into a conversation.

"I have everything I need, thanks. I'm hungry and heading to the kitchens now."

Rey tried to sidestep the other boy again and this time he gently grabbed her elbow to stop her. Corbin bent over to get close to Rey's ear while keeping an eye out on the path to ensure no one disturbed them.

"In a moment Sunshine. Listen. I've been meaning to tell you this and now's a good time. Try having more friends. A little girl, without any family, might get lonely if her only friend didn't come back to school from vacation."

"What do you mean Ben won't come back to school?" Rey asked sharply.

"He is a kriffin' prince Rey. And a senator's son. He has a bigger purpose in the galaxy."

"He is going to be a Jedi. Nothing is more important for the galaxy than that."

Corbin laughed in her face.

"You are so innocent Sunshine. Do me a favor and stay that way."

Rey jerked her arm free.

"I'm not doing you any favors."

She started walking down the hill towards the kitchens again. Corbin grabbed her tunic to stop her and Rey twisted. The fabric tore up across her back, exposing her to the chilly mountain air. Goosebumps broke across her skin, partly from the cold and mostly from the discomfort. Rey dropped the comb to clutch at her shirt. The mended piece of wood hit a rock, breaking into two again. A sob broke out of her closed throat at the sight.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-"

Rey snatched the pieces of her broken comb, turned and ran towards the Temple. A few students meditating in the open garden in the middle of the huts didn't pay any mind to the running girl.

Instead of the kitchens, her feet took her to Ben's hut. She entered and shut the door behind her. A set of robes lay in a bundle on his bed. Shivering a little, Rey put the pieces of her comb on a stool by his bed, picked up the robes and wrapped them snug around herself. Warmth filled her body, Ben's scent hit her nose, calming her, centering her. Rey buried half her face in the thick fabric and curled up on his sparse bed.

'_**I miss you.' **_She sent into the ether, sure in her heart that her words would reach Ben.


	3. Chapter 3

Leia was trying out shawls to go with her evening dress. She fingered the fine silk one that was the exact match and then ran the embroidered wool on her cheek, enjoying the warmth the silk shawl couldn't offer. The evening was going to be cool. The wool was a more prudent choice. She put down the silk shawl on the low settee at her side and picked her republic brooch to pin her choice securely to her dress.

Ben sat at the side of his mother bed and waited for her to get ready, bouncing his left leg in anxiety and impatience. He was escorting her to a party this evening and he did not want to go. The circuitous politicking of such events always left a bad taste at the back of his throat. Every time, he barely controlled himself from dishing smart retorts to the boring people who came to these extravaganzas and thought to schmooze him for their nefarious purposes. He however did not control himself from small bursts of force misuse, an upended wine glass on the face of a ten year older woman who'd been flirting with him inappropriately at the last party, a senator who tried to hold tight his mother's elbow and suddenly couldn't stop digging his nose, an old pontificator whose baritone suddenly went squeaky like a mouse. His mother always knew he did those things and he got his just scolding later. But for the pleasure of making fools of people who thought to make him the fool, Ben knew he would do much more than juvenile pranks if he were allowed more freedom.

"Do I have to escort you?"

"Yes."

"Where is Han? Shouldn't he be the one suffering a boring event at the side of his wife? I thought he would be here by now."

A shadow passed over Leia's eyes. She tried to hide her face but Ben saw it.

"He is on his way."

"What's his ETA?"

"I don't know."

"Can you ask him where he is now?"

"No Ben. I haven't been able to contact him since morning. I am sure he will arrive soon. Meanwhile, we will go attend dinner and talk people into acknowledging the plight of slaves in the republic."

Ben pulled at his collar, the rich gold embroidery scratchy and uncomfortable where it touched skin.

"I thought slavery was abolished already."

"Yes, it is illegal to hold slaves. But we have a long way to go before the free people start receiving just compensation and fair contracts for their labor, or even getting a seat at the tables that make decisions regarding their lives. The privileged have learnt to work around our laws and still hold undue advantages over the less privileged of our society. They keep gaining and the others keep losing. They are more segregated than ever, not able to afford housing with the privileged classes, not able to afford the same schools that teach the rich, forced to get by on rationed food that is far from good for their bodies. The last meteor sickness pandemic decimated over sixty percent working class citizens while only barely touching the ruling rich classes. The scale is so tipped, it is a miracle people aren't openly revolting against the government. I would have, had the tables been turned. Our work against slavery is far from over Ben."

Ben listened to his mother's impassioned speech and couldn't help feeling guilty about not knowing more about the huge problems faced by the people of their world. He knew his mother fought tooth and nail for each and every piece of legislation passed to benefit the disadvantaged masses. Slavery was not the only evil his mother wanted to eradicate. There was also hunger, epidemics, faulty school systems and lack of equal rights among the races to list a few. He saw her sincere efforts and her honest disgust for the wrongs of their world. Trying to achieve a better world took Leia away from being a mother to her only son, and her son accepted her choices, even if it was a bitter pill to swallow. He still wanted her attention though. And maybe some appreciation.

Ben stopped fiddling with his collar and stood up to straighten his elaborate dinner jacket. He was tall for a teen. Although still lanky, jedi training had cured the awkwardness of his gait and made him more comfortable in his bones. His thoughts were a different matter. He hoped his training progressed to the point where small things ceased to make him angry, or mere derogatory talk push him into lashing out in the worst possible way, or that he stopped antagonizing important people out of jealousy for taking up all of his mother's time. Luke and Leia thought there was hope for him yet. It would have to be enough for now.

And so, even if he despised the wealthy politicians and spoilt aristocrats that turned up at his mother's events, he knew Leia saw tiny scrapes of good in them. Enough to engineer change through their support and money. All he had to do was escort her, look respectable and not embarrass her. He would have to buck up and do that. For charity and world peace.

"Senator Grassly is attending with his family." Leia said out of the blue.

"Uhuhhh." Ben replied, holding out his arm.

Leia looped her arm around Ben's and started walking to the door.

"You remember Sasha? His daughter?" Leia asked casually.

Too casually. Ben's senses pricked.

"Yes, I remember her. Beauty and no brains. Thinks the world starts and ends in her mirror, along with other delusions."

"That's sounds about right. However, her father is one of the most powerful men in the senate. He holds sway over a number of other senators as well. I have been trying to get him to work with me on a new legislation to raise minimum wages. If he supports the bill, it will pass without a glitch."

They walked the halls of their palatial home for a few silent moments as Ben digested what his mother was saying.

"Sasha has a bit of a thing for you." Leia continued, "It won't hurt us if you encourage her a little. Maybe enough for her father to wish for a friendship with us."

Ice went down Ben's spine.

"Is Sasha the reason you called me for this trip home?" He bit out, anger unfurling in a red stream inside his veins.

"Don't be silly." Leia made a dismissive gesture with her other hand, "I wanted to see my son too. I am trying to teach you how the world works Ben."

His anger flared, more than he could keep in. An expensive gold inlayed vase kept on a pedestal right beside Ben burst into thousands of shards.

Leia stared at the broken pieces and then at Ben. Her eyes held poorly concealed fear, a look Ben had received many times from his parents.

"I thought you were learning to control yourself at the academy." She said quietly.

Ben removed Leia's hand from his arm and walked to a window overlooking the grounds. Losses of control in front of his mother never ended well. He tried a few calming breathes and waited for his balance to return. If Rey were here, he wouldn't have to try so hard.

Rey…

Ben closed his eyes and looked for his happy place within. But all he saw was darkness laced with red.

"Ben?" Leia placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Are you alright?"

He nodded and turned back to his mother.

"I am sorry for that." he whispered; eyes cast down.

"No harm no foul son. I hated that vase anyways." Leia forced a laugh.

Mother and son started walking towards the ballroom again.

"Will you talk to Sasha?"

Ben didn't answer, desperately trying to keep a tight rein on his anger.

"It's important. We are more than the sum total of our feelings, son. If a little artifice makes life better for thousands of people who look up to us, then what's wrong with that? Just laugh and dance with her tonight. Take her out to an expensive dinner or a club where other young and carefree people go. It's not much to ask, especially when you think that it would be a form of payback to the society for having more than most others do. Come on Ben, I am not asking you to marry her."

A cold calm spread over Ben's fiery anger. It felt off and a little dark, but it got rid of the roiling bitter hurt lodged deep in his stomach, and Ben welcomed the numbing cold.

"Yet. You are not asking that of me, yet. Because I am too young for marriage."

Leia looked up to Ben's face to gauge his feelings. They were approaching the ballroom's side entrance and the corridors leading to it had been blessedly empty. When they entered the room, mother and son would come under the scrutiny of hundreds of eyes, just waiting for them to slip and reveal a chink in their armors. Leia couldn't have Ben fighting with her or losing control with the force in there.

"Whatever we do, we do it in the service of the people of this galaxy. That's our burden and our privilege. Do what you can to earn the things you take for granted. Grow up Ben. The world wouldn't wait for you while you have your temper tantrum."

"Of course mother. What kind of world would it be if its future depended on the temper tantrums of one man?" Ben answered, his voice even, face giving nothing away.

"Exactly son." Leia nodded and noted the confident tilt of Ben's chin and his ramrod straight spine and shoulders in approval. Then she opened the door and got to work.


End file.
